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Eppo Bruins

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Eppo Bruins
Bruins in 2018
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
2 December 2015 – 31 March 2021
Personal details
Born (1969-09-19) 19 September 1969 (age 54)
Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Political partyNSC (2024–present)
Other political
affiliations		CDA (until 2011)
CU (2011–2024)
Children2
Alma materUtrecht University (MSc, PhD)

Eppo Egbert Willem Bruins (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch politician and physicist who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Christian Union (CU) from 2015 to 2021.

Prior to his service in Parliament, Bruins was director of the Technologiestichting STW [nl] from 2007 until 2015. Since 2022, he has chaired the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation [nl] (AWTI).

Early life and education[edit]

Bruins was born on 19 September 1969 in Apeldoorn, Gelderland.[1] He attended high school at the preparatory scientific education level at the Myrtus College in his hometown between 1982 and 1987.

Bruins subsequently went to Utrecht University, where he graduated with a Master of Science (MSc) degree in physics in 1991. He played the piano at a conservatoire, but he never earned a diploma.[2]

Afterwards, he became a doctoral researcher at the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie [nl] (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter, FOM) for four years. In 1995, he obtained his PhD degree in mathematics and physics from Utrecht University with a thesis entitled The magnetic form factor of the neutron.[1]

Career[edit]

Bruins later lived in the United States, where he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1995 to 1997. He then returned to the Netherlands, where he was a project coordinator at his former training institute FOM between 1997 and 2004, as well as subsequently director of the Leiden Institute of Physics of the Leiden University from 2004 to 2007, before his time as director of the FOM between 2007 and 2015.[1][3]

Politics[edit]

Bruins was a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), but switched over to the socially more conservative Christian Union in 2011.[4] Bruins served as editor-in-chief of the magazine of Christian Union's scientific institute.[4]

In the parliamentary election of 2012, Bruins was placed as number six on the Christian Union list but was not elected.[4] On 2 December 2015, he became member of the House of Representatives, when he replaced former party leader Arie Slob who had resigned as a parliamentarian.[5] He was his party's spokesperson for matters including education, media, and aviation.[2] In the parliamentary election of 2021, he was placed seventh on the party list, failing to win re-election. He later became chairperson of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI).[2] In 2023, following the resignation of then party leader Gert-Jan Segers as a parliamentarian, a seat in Parliament was proposed to Bruins, who declined to return. The seat went to Nico Drost instead.

NOS reported in June 2024 that Bruins was nominated to serve as Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Schoof cabinet on behalf of New Social Contract (NSC). Mirjam Bikker, the CU's party leader, disapproved of his nomination.[2]

Personal life[edit]

Bruins became religious at age 18. He first belonged to the Reformed Association in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and later became a Baptist.[1][4] Bruins is the second Baptist member of the House of Representatives, preceded by Janmarc Lenards [nl].[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Dr. E.E.W. (Eppo) Bruins" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Oud-Kamerlid CU voor NSC op Onderwijs, deze namen weten we nu" [Former CU MP for education on behalf of NSC, these are the names known]. NOS (in Dutch). 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  3. ^ "STW-directeur Eppo Bruins verder als Kamerlid" (in Dutch). STW. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Gerard Beverdam (10 November 2015). "Eppo Bruins verruilt wetenschap voor politiek" (in Dutch). Nederlands Dagblad. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Eppo Bruins nieuw Tweede Kamerlid voor de ChristenUnie" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.

External links[edit]

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